Our Dutch Life

It's slightly daunting to think about how we will answer the question "How was it? when we get back to the states. It's hard to try to verbalize what our life is like over here. To be honest, the day to day life during the week is pretty similar to our life back in the states. How can that be, you ask? 

Well, on a typical week day we get up, make breakfast, Jack heads to campus to work, and then I sit at our kitchen table with my computer and work - I answer emails, edit photos, attempt to write blog posts, update business systems, maintain my website, - and then I get to do some fun things like plan trips, go to lunch at a cute cafe, or run some errands. If we need to go anywhere we ride bikes or take the train instead of driving in traffic and trying to find parking, and most everything is within a 5 minute bike ride, which is kind of the best thing in the world. On Thursdays and Saturdays it's market day, and while I would love to say that I head on down with a big basket every week and stock up on fruits, breads, flowers and stroopwaffels, I've honestly only done that a few times. I try to do a "field trip" somewhere at least once a week - to a museum in Den Haag or Rotterdam, shopping in Leiden, or just wandering around Amsterdam. Sometimes I'll go on a bike ride through the park just north of Delft or ride to a nearby town. Jack is usually home around 5 or 6, and then we make dinner and watch a show before bed (we're currently binge watching Black Sails and House of Cards). Sometimes we'll meet up with friends for a drink at the student bar on campus or go on a date night at one of the hole in the wall restaurants a few blocks from our place. See? Our day to day life during the week is pretty similar to what it was at home. 

For me, the biggest change has been getting used to creating my own routine. My life back in the states was pretty hectic at times with a daily changing schedule of shoots, edits, meetings, and running a growing business. The weekends were usually filled with shoots or weddings, and it was hard to be able to find time for myself let alone Jack and our friends and family. I was photographing weddings up until two days before we got on a plane to Holland, and when I got here it was exhilarating, relaxing and overwhelming because I didn't know what to do. It took me a while for me to get used to having this freedom of time, and at times I still feel guilty not working every second. BUT, I'm really starting to love Travel Anna. She's way less anxious and stressed, and is way more fun. She's healthier - physically and mentally - and she does cool stuff like reads and learns guitar and colors and knits and cooks because she wants to and has time to. I know that when we get back to the states I'll have to find a way to incorporate Travel Anna back into that life because Travel Anna is fun. 

And sure, it's a big change to walk out the front door to views of historic canals with swans floating by and people speeding by on bicycles. Or to fall asleep to the sounds of the bell tower down the block that was built in the 13th century. Or to hop on our bike to go to the store and only get a backpack full of groceries with enough for dinner and tomorrow's lunch instead of multiple bags. But we've found a daily routine that make this life we have here seem normal and familiar. Even if I do still swoon at every crooked brick building and detailed colorful doorway. 

The biggest difference in our lives here is how we spend our weekends - instead of having family obligations, weddings to shoot, or plans with friends, we get to jet off to some new sweet place to explore, or hop on a train to a new city in Holland and walk around visiting cool coffee shops, book stores and concept stores. That part of our life is the biggest change and is still honestly unbelievable to us -  we get to live a lifestyle of traveling and experiencing new things whenever we want because we only have our two schedules (which are pretty wide open) to worry about. We feel SO lucky to be able to have the freedom and opportunity to do this, and it's amazing. We LOVE having this time to hang out with just each other and do whatever we want to do - it's kind of ridiculous how much time we can spend together and not get bored. However, at the same time, we really miss our friends and family. Instead of having coffee dates or hanging out in person, we schedule facetime dates. But it's not the same as being able to hug and snuggle with friends. Luckily we have a ton of visitors coming in the next few months and we can't wait to share this life with them. But until then we'll just keep living our little life over here in this new normal way.